sunn O))) & Ulver join forces for new collaborative work Terrestrials, due for release on Southern Lord in February 2014. Now stop with the fucking refrigerator jokes.

Just stop already. I can hear you nearly a mile away with your mouth-breather’s laugh and drool chuckle being all “huh-huh-huh bzzzzzzzrrrrrr,” when I mention sunn O))). It’s to the point where your stupid prank calls of, “hey is your refrigerator running? Well you better turn White 1 off! Hur-hur-hur,” are so insistent that I think I’m going to have to throw water in your face next time we’re hanging around the ol’ office cooler and I’m wearing my sunn O))) hoodie. In fact, I’ll probably stop wearing it anywhere in public because I know your stupid ass is going to be there to buzz and laugh at me and ask, “where’s the drummer?”

Because for the rest of us it’s pretty chill: sunn O))) and occasional buddies Ulver are going to be releasing an album on Southern Lord that will be titled Terrestrials, and let me say, this is one collaboration that will keep the bacon at a temperature that reduces the spread of bacteria. Terrestrials is slated for February 2014, and it will definitely be out in time to keep those Valentine’s candies from melting. The album will consist of three yet-to-be-named tracks, and although exact details surrounding the collaboration are scare, I’m sure that all will be revealed, all earth-shaking answers and understandings of the precise temperature needed to keep that Earth Balance butter firm, yet spreadable, and how to precisely adjust your moisture control settings in the vegetable drawer so that your kale stays fresh and crisp. These details will be released in the next month, so don’t call the appliance repair man just yet.

If the Canadians-that-need-not-be-named ever had a reputation for being reclusive, rest assured, it was I who got the ball rolling towards its propagation. No, not me specifically, but me as a representation of music writers everywhere, from whom GY!BE and its Manuckian offshoot, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, have previously shied away, as a realized antipathy toward confused questions about their punctuated and evolving monikers. Nah, the reality of these once “proud and shy motherfuckers” is much less petty, and, well, you brought it on yourself, Efrim! In any case, it was strictly a press matter, as performances from both outfits were never all that rare (when not on hiatus).

In fact, for a band that semi-recently returned from a significant seven-year hiatus, Godspeed have seemed a little too willing to entertain an audience lately. Stopping short of hosting tour interim dinner parties for all the local Quebecois, Thee Silver Mt. Zion (which includes Godspeed members Efrim Manuck, Thierry Amar, and Sophie Trudeau, alongside Jessica Moss and David Payant) have found the time to create and complete their newest LP Fuck Off We Get Free We Pour Light On Everything, set for release January 21 on the familiar Constellation.

What lucky few we are to have already listened to it! A general heaviness presides, and those who haven’t yet grown accustomed to Menuck’s vocal style may be less turned off by this one, where, compared to their previous release, it isn’t as much of a centerpiece in the overall mix. Also to that end, the presumed vocals of Trudeau and Moss feature rather prominently on a couple of tracks. Listen to an excerpt of “Austerity Blues” below:

Fuck Off We Get Free We Pour Light On Everything tracklisting:

01. Fuck Off Get Free (For the Island of Montreal)
02. Austerity Blues
03. Take Away These Early Grave Blues
04. Little Ones Run
05. What We Loved Was Not Enough
06. Rains Thru the Roof at Thee Grande Ball-Room (For Capital Steel)

Before the days of the internet, people may have often wondered how one could help a musician struggling with health or financial issues. Now, with crowdfunding available, it’s possible to not only pledge toward an album release or a tour, but also give back in a longer-lasting way to the artists whose work has shaped the fabric of our creative world. A longtime resident of New York, pianist Masabumi Kikuchi was born in Tokyo in 1939, and in the fertile 60s and 70s he worked to shape Japanese jazz and improvised music alongside trumpeter Terumasa Hino, saxophonist Sadao Watanabe, guitarist Masayuki “Jojo” Takayanagi, pianist Masahiko Satoh, and drummer Masahiko Togashi, developing it as an artform that could stand on equal footing with its American and European counterparts.

Kikuchi also became known for his work with American musicians and composers — most notably Gil Evans (one of Miles’ deepest collaborators), as well as drummers Paul Motian and Elvin Jones, bassist Gary Peacock, and pianist Mal Waldron — and relocated to Manhattan in 1973, where he’s lived ever since. A dynamic and robust improviser whose playing also exhibits great pastoral sensitivity and pregnant sparseness, Kikuchi’s recent recordings have explored new levels of lyrical and rhythmic freedom. But that dedication to art doesn’t come without a price, as health struggles and rising rent are challenging his very well-being.

A gogetfunding campaign has been started to alleviate these pressures, with the goal of raising enough to stave off losing his loft and accruing medical debt.

Pianist Ethan Iverson (The Bad Plus) has also published a lengthy interview with Kikuchi, available on Do The Math.

It’s news like this that makes breakfast at the Riboflavin family house unbearable. Serious, yesterday my lil’ sister’s all, “can I go see Sky Ferreira and Icona Pop?” And then grampa’s all, “who?” And then sister’s all, “I didn’t ask you grampa. Mom, dad, why does grampa live with us?” And then mom’s like, “who else is she playing with?” (And to be honest, I’m perfectly sure mom knows already.) Then sister Riboflavin takes this huge pause and mumbles out a “Miley Cyrus” that causes grampa to have another one of his old man convulsions before launching into some sort of tirade about “god-damn third wavers and your rap music and your pogo sticks,” and this is where I finally come in because my mouth is full of chewed Corn Pops and I laugh so hard that I spit it all over the table.

So then my sister’s all, “but I really just want to see Sky Ferreira!” To which she launches into a huge speech about every reason why she thinks Sky Ferreira is the greatest and deserves our consideration and attention, and this ends with her pulling Night Time, My Time out of her backpack in front of everyone, which causes my mother’s mouth to drop, and then my father reaches over his Honey Nut Cheerios and says, “I think I’m going to have to take that from you,” but then grampa slaps his hand out of the way and says, “you can’t be trusted, I’ll take that!” Meanwhile there’s still milk and cereal chunks all over the table and I’m trying to wipe it up with a dishrag, and I can’t get past grampa and my dad’s awkward slap fight…

Then my mom goes, “STOP.” We all look at her, and she gently reminds us that none of the Miley Cyrus tour dates have actually announced which shows are with who, so if may turn out that my sister will get stuck with Icona Pop instead of Sky Ferreira, to which my sister says, “is that a threat, or a curse?” Then, silence.

Whatever, here’s some six-day-old tour news.

Miley Cyrus tour dates, some of which will have Sky Ferreira and/or Icona Pop:

— 1 of the biggest goddamn megaphones you’ve ever seen
— 1 stage made entirely of mirrors so that at some point Win Butler can point to it and say “Now that’s a real reflector,” followed closely by, “Reflector? I hardly know her!”
— 12-14 pairs of glass-resistant fashion-forward boots in case the stage shatters under the weight of all that rock
— 3 bags of only green M&Ms
—Wayne Coyne dartboard, large size
— A middle-aged man named Saul, preferably from New Jersey or Pennsylvania, who will give the band a 10 minute pep-talk before they walk on stage
— Special Grammy-sized wagon so the band can wheel their award out on stage during each show’s climax
— Two puppies for Win to pet in the green room during costume changes
— Assorted DVDs of historic comedy performances (the band specifically requests comedians who prominently use “ironic joking” in their acts)
— 3 commemorative maps of Canada
— 12-14 high-quality yoga mats and certified yoga instructor, as well as a private, climate-controlled room in which the band can complete their pre-show yoga routines
—A lock of hair from each of the following: Bruce Springsteen, Billie Joe Armstrong, Lindsey Buckingham, Donald Trump, Donald Fagen, Joel Osteen, Rick Danko
— Those playing cards with the naked ladies on them

To spread the word about the existence of a similarly mythical “Golem,” but separate from the emaciated sub-human “Gollum” known from the LOTR trilogy: though its status as a “masterpiece” is considered by some to be widely regarded, the pinnacle (and in some respects, sole) album from the obscure German cosmic/krautrock band Sand was only recently reissued by Rotorelief in 2010, following an initial release in 1974. One could say that the LP’s reintroduction into the breathable atmosphere was preceded by an epiphany on behalf of that label’s operators, summed up by the following imaginary comment, as though spoken from an immature 12-year old via the internet: “OMG, I rly liek their music!” So followed the Golem reissues, as well the the dissemination of Sand’s unreleased work.

Enthusiasm apparently spread in concurrence, because the immortal Nurse with Wound, known for their/his heterogeneous propensities, has opted to release a new album called Chromanatron, which takes from “no less than five” of Sand’s albums — presumably four of which were unofficially drawn from the band through some kind of supernatural music-gleaning method. Here, I found an image of what it must look like… not that the folks at Rotorelief are in any way comparable in character to Dementors (though they do seem to be equally unidentifiable).

From a wider perspective, Chromanatron is but a piece of a Rotorelief series called INXODEM, a more comprehensive dedication to Sand, which includes the release of what was previously not. Current 93, oft-collaborator of Nurse with Wound, has also contributed covers of the Sand track “When the May Rain Comes” as a part of the series.

Fucking Sand. Who knew? Purchase and listen to a clip of Chromanatronhere.